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feed_my_eyes
Community Member

Looking for advice about specialized profiles and popular projects

It looks like I'll have to set up some specialized profiles for myself, since I've needed to update my portfolio for ages and can't put it off any longer. But I'm still nervous about taking the plunge; does anybody know whether the bug that showed 0 earnings on some people's profiles has definitely been fixed? 

 

And if I do create a specialized profile, add lots of new portfolio items, then later decide that this isn't working for me and I want to delete it, what happens with all of the new items that I've uploaded? Will these portfolio items end up in my main profile, or will I just lose everything?

 

Third question: Has anybody gotten any offers from having "Popular Projects" listed in their profile? I haven't had a single inquiry. I know that Upwork asked for feedback from a bunch of freelancers - over a month ago? - but I haven't heard any announcements about whether they plan to make any changes. If there are no plans to improve this feature, then I'm just going to delete mine because it's a waste of space.

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond!

 

23 REPLIES 23
pudingstudio
Community Member


Christine A wrote:

It looks like I'll have to set up some specialized profiles for myself, since I've needed to update my portfolio for ages and can't put it off any longer. But I'm still nervous about taking the plunge; does anybody know whether the bug that showed 0 earnings on some people's profiles has definitely been fixed? 

 

And if I do create a specialized profile, add lots of new portfolio items, then later decide that this isn't working for me and I want to delete it, what happens with all of the new items that I've uploaded? Will these portfolio items end up in my main profile, or will I just lose everything?

 

Third question: Has anybody gotten any offers from having "Popular Projects" listed in their profile? I haven't had a single inquiry. I know that Upwork asked for feedback from a bunch of freelancers - over a month ago? - but I haven't heard any announcements about whether they plan to make any changes. If there are no plans to improve this feature, then I'm just going to delete mine because it's a waste of space.

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond!

 


Curious myself.

Anyone using this ("Popular Projects")? Any experience with it?

Does it have any purpose?

I'm planning on leaving "popular projects"—as I use it and as Upwork has advised using it, "typical projects" would be a better description—in place until Upwork pulls the plug. For my business, it's a very efficient way of breaking down typical/targeted services and their prices.

 

[edited for clarity]


Douglas Michael M wrote:

I'm planning on leaving "Popular"—as I use it and as Upwork has advised using it, "typical" would be a better description—Projects in place until Upwork pulls the plug. For my business, it's a very efficient way of breaking down typical/targeted services and their prices.


So does that mean that you've gotten some new business from this feature?


Christine A wrote:

Douglas Michael M wrote:

I'm planning on leaving "Popular"—as I use it and as Upwork has advised using it, "typical" would be a better description—Projects in place until Upwork pulls the plug. For my business, it's a very efficient way of breaking down typical/targeted services and their prices.


So does that mean that you've gotten some new business from this feature?


Nope, not that I can tell. No one has used PP to contact me. I've had an uptick in invites, and maybe of somewhat better quality, but presumably that's cyclical/lucky.

 

I actually think of it as a tire-kicker filter, as well as a reality check for serious clients with serious projects. It's hard to figure project cost from either my rate, my statement about my variable rates, or my job history. Popular projects lets me lay out typical costs for typical projects, without having to parse editing into copy light, copy heavy, substantive, developmental, line, etc... 

jamesseligman
Community Member


Christine A wrote:

I

Third question: Has anybody gotten any offers from having "Popular Projects" listed in their profile? I haven't had a single inquiry. I know that Upwork asked for feedback from a bunch of freelancers - over a month ago? - but I haven't heard any announcements about whether they plan to make any changes. If there are no plans to improve this feature, then I'm just going to delete mine because it's a waste of space.

I haven't received any inquiries at all. I did the interview with Upwork about it and recommended some changes to be made, but haven't heard anything since from Upwork or clients. I figured I'll leave it up until the end of the year and see what happens, if nothing comes up, I'll remove it. 

Christine, specialized profiles has woked for me ... but "popular projects" is impossible to segment as a writer.  My POV only - and based on each job has unique issues.

m_terrazas
Community Member

Christine,

I have specialized profiles.
I don't know if they work or not, but how you have to have them to be able to expand the portfolio, there they are.

I have not used popular projects because I do not know how to undertake it.
In animation, for example, there are so many variants to give a budget, that I would not know how to explain it.
And less with so little place to do it 🙂

I just added something last week and I feel like I just added it to my main portfolio, and then it also had an option to included in my Editorial Design specialized portfolio. And somewhere they say that the info will stay up there, but I think as long as you add it from your main profile to start you're good to go,

 

They added the popular projects to my profile even though I didn't want them, mostly because I don't want to pigeonhole myself... if someone sees books starting at $250, but that's a 32-page children's book with very little text and illustrations already complete... I don't want them to think I'll do a 400-page textbook for that much. So right now I feel like it's kind of an anchor around my neck but I'm going to try to put some relevant things and see if anything happens. I've been so buried with book work that I haven't had time to worry about it. That seems to have increased since I made a specialized profile.

kbadeau
Community Member

I think splitting our earnings across specialized profiles is absurd though. I KNOW they're doing it and even I am taken aback when I see the low numbers on some freelancer's profiles. So I'm sure some clients are confused as well.

lysis10
Community Member

Christine, I was forced too cuz I wanted to add portfolio items and couldn't until I did it. I just decided to make 1 profile and throw all my jobs in it so I can display total earnings. The fun part was checking off jobs one-by-one on 350 jobs cuz there's no "select all" option. -_-

mtngigi
Community Member


Jennifer M wrote:

Christine, I was forced too cuz I wanted to add portfolio items and couldn't until I did it. I just decided to make 1 profile and throw all my jobs in it so I can display total earnings. The fun part was checking off jobs one-by-one on 350 jobs cuz there's no "select all" option. -_-


That's ridiculous there's no select all. And it's brilliant of you to come up with another way to do this. But I see that you still have to have a "general" profile, so which profile is attached to a bid - because my understanding is that freelancers cannot choose which profile to display to a client.

 

From Lena's thread update on 10/11: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Announcements/Recap-on-Improvements-to-Design-and-Creatives-Search-E...

 

These two bullet points that clients will see makes me wonder if putting everything in one basket may be a problem:

 

Advanced search filters (coming soon). Filter talent by the skills they have, the type of work they specialize in, and the kinds of deliverables they can create.

 

Relevant experience, upfront. Make quicker hiring decisions by seeing the most relevant reasons a freelancer would be a good match – directly in search results.

 

So ... if you have a general profile, might that be the only one they see? I'm just wondering this stuff out loud. I think at some point they're going to force how we want to market ourselves down our throats ... so all this wondering may be a moot point.

lysis10
Community Member


Virginia F wrote:

Jennifer M wrote:

Christine, I was forced too cuz I wanted to add portfolio items and couldn't until I did it. I just decided to make 1 profile and throw all my jobs in it so I can display total earnings. The fun part was checking off jobs one-by-one on 350 jobs cuz there's no "select all" option. -_-


That's ridiculous there's no select all. And it's brilliant of you to come up with another way to do this. But I see that you still have to have a "general" profile, so which profile is attached to a bid - because my understanding is that freelancers cannot choose which profile to display to a client.

 

From Lena's thread update on 10/11: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Announcements/Recap-on-Improvements-to-Design-and-Creatives-Search-E...

 

These two bullet points that clients will see makes me wonder if putting everything in one basket may be a problem:

 

Advanced search filters (coming soon). Filter talent by the skills they have, the type of work they specialize in, and the kinds of deliverables they can create.

 

Relevant experience, upfront. Make quicker hiring decisions by seeing the most relevant reasons a freelancer would be a good match – directly in search results.

 

So ... if you have a general profile, might that be the only one they see? I'm just wondering this stuff out loud. I think at some point they're going to force how we want to market ourselves down our throats ... so all this wondering may be a moot point.


Yeah I might very well be shooting myself in the foot. I just don't have the motivation to spend a lot of time on my profile when it was working just fine before. I know it could improve, but I just wanted to add some portfolio items and did whatever I could to spend as little time doing whatever they wanted so I could add them.

 

But I want to show my full revenue on my profile to clients. Like I got an invite with a $10,000 income filter from the client, so my income plays a role I think in a lot of the better invites I get. So I just wanted a profile that has my total income instead of breaking it out to smaller income categories.

mtngigi
Community Member


Jennifer M wrote:

Virginia F wrote:

Jennifer M wrote:

Christine, I was forced too cuz I wanted to add portfolio items and couldn't until I did it. I just decided to make 1 profile and throw all my jobs in it so I can display total earnings. The fun part was checking off jobs one-by-one on 350 jobs cuz there's no "select all" option. -_-


That's ridiculous there's no select all. And it's brilliant of you to come up with another way to do this. But I see that you still have to have a "general" profile, so which profile is attached to a bid - because my understanding is that freelancers cannot choose which profile to display to a client.

 

From Lena's thread update on 10/11: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Announcements/Recap-on-Improvements-to-Design-and-Creatives-Search-E...

 

These two bullet points that clients will see makes me wonder if putting everything in one basket may be a problem:

 

Advanced search filters (coming soon). Filter talent by the skills they have, the type of work they specialize in, and the kinds of deliverables they can create.

 

Relevant experience, upfront. Make quicker hiring decisions by seeing the most relevant reasons a freelancer would be a good match – directly in search results.

 

So ... if you have a general profile, might that be the only one they see? I'm just wondering this stuff out loud. I think at some point they're going to force how we want to market ourselves down our throats ... so all this wondering may be a moot point.


Yeah I might very well be shooting myself in the foot. I just don't have the motivation to spend a lot of time on my profile when it was working just fine before. I know it could improve, but I just wanted to add some portfolio items and did whatever I could to spend as little time doing whatever they wanted so I could add them.

 

But I want to show my full revenue on my profile to clients. Like I got an invite with a $10,000 income filter from the client, so my income plays a role I think in a lot of the better invites I get. So I just wanted a profile that has my total income instead of breaking it out to smaller income categories.

 

 

 

 

Agree ... someone that does as well as you've done should want that monetary success to show.

 

I just wish someone would come along the verify that this initiative has jobs pouring in left and right. All I see from new profiles (who were forced to set up SPs) are forum threads about how hard it is to get work. Upwork has not provided one iota of proof that this improves anyone's chances.

 

Wendy has seen results in her category, but I don't think this idea works for all categories across the board. It's another mistake in thinking one size fits all. It does not.

 

The biggest problem I see is that client's don't always know or use the correct terminology when composing their RFPs


Virginia F wrote:

Jennifer M wrote:


Yeah I might very well be shooting myself in the foot. I just don't have the motivation to spend a lot of time on my profile when it was working just fine before. I know it could improve, but I just wanted to add some portfolio items and did whatever I could to spend as little time doing whatever they wanted so I could add them.

 

But I want to show my full revenue on my profile to clients. Like I got an invite with a $10,000 income filter from the client, so my income plays a role I think in a lot of the better invites I get. So I just wanted a profile that has my total income instead of breaking it out to smaller income categories.

 

 

Agree ... someone that does as well as you've done should want that monetary success to show.

 

I just wish someone would come along the verify that this initiative has jobs pouring in left and right. All I see from new profiles (who were forced to set up SPs) are forum threads about how hard it is to get work. Upwork has not provided one iota of proof that this improves anyone's chances.

 


Yes - this. I get enough work as it is and I'm firmly of the opinion that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And yet I can't go on forever without being able to update my portfolio.

I abandoned popular projects, it didn't receive any engagement (at least not that I could see).

As for specialized profiles, I'm not sure if it's helping or hurting, I honestly can't tell. For instance, when people invite me, I have no idea which profile they see. Also, when I submit, also have no idea which one they see. I wonder how it appears on the client side?

 

One frustration is that when I complete a project, I'm not sure where they "put it" by default. It was one thing to set it up, not clear on the maintenence.

 

As with so many features Upwork offers, I believe this one has the potential to help client review relevant work. However, as Jen mentioned, the separation of earnings is lame and not relevant. What is relevant is for a potential business strategy client to easily locate reviews from comprable projects vs. a review for an academic paper I edited.

 

 


Miriam H wrote:

However, as Jen mentioned, the separation of earnings is lame and not relevant.


In addition to the separation of earnings, it just occurred to me that my hourly totals will be reduced as well. I want to set up a specialised profile for presentations but nearly all of my presentation projects have been fixed price, so if somebody wants to filter for "at least 100 hours", I'll be out of luck. Whereas if I just keep my general profile, it looks far more impressive.

 

Yeah, I might just have to put this off until I consider all of the potential problems.

 


Christine A wrote:

Miriam H wrote:

However, as Jen mentioned, the separation of earnings is lame and not relevant.


In addition to the separation of earnings, it just occurred to me that my hourly totals will be reduced as well. I want to set up a specialised profile for presentations but nearly all of my presentation projects have been fixed price, so if somebody wants to filter for "at least 100 hours", I'll be out of luck. Whereas if I just keep my general profile, it looks far more impressive.

 

Yeah, I might just have to put this off until I consider all of the potential problems.

 


One way around it, since you currently have samples, is to advise potential clients you can provide additional samples. My profile doesn't include any samples due to the nature of my work.  Also, as a business writer so much of my work is informed by the audience and the actual owner, I don't consider samples that useful. I realize clients may view things differently. 

I am still using the old school format. Though I am starting to think maybe others with specialized profiles get more relevance in front of clients' eyes, I mean maybe they are displayed better. The use of specialized profiles also duplicates the keywords so it may be beneficial.

 

Where I don't see any benefit is on forcing people to create a specialized profile when they don't need it. I have seen freelancers having identical stuff in both specialized and general profiles just to comply with the 'rules.' I also think separation of earnings is not good. The whole thing cause confusion on clients.

 

I read somewhere a workaround that consists on creating a specialized profile and deleting it afterwards, making the system transfer all items to the general profile. It sounds far-fetched. I never used it.

 

And I have been thinking of using an external website instead since the blurry thumbnails seem to be something that will never be fixed and it really annoys me. Freelancers who work with images need pristine thumbnails, it's essential. Another possibility is to put everything on a video but the video link in the overview is not really visible either. It's really a shame Upwork do not make the interface more friendly. We wouldn't be thinking that much if the did.


Sergio S wrote:

I am still using the old school format. Though I am starting to think maybe others with specialized profiles get more relevance in front of clients' eyes, I mean maybe they are displayed better. The use of specialized profiles also duplicates the keywords so it may be beneficial.

 

Where I don't see any benefit is on forcing people to create a specialized profile when they don't need it. I have seen freelancers having identical stuff in both specialized and general profiles just to comply with the 'rules.' I also think separation of earnings is not good. The whole thing cause confusion on clients.

 

I read somewhere a workaround that consists on creating a specialized profile and deleting it afterwards, making the system transfer all items to the general profile. It sounds far-fetched. I never used it.

 

And I have been thinking of using an external website instead since the blurry thumbnails seem to be something that will never be fixed and it really annoys me. Freelancers who work with images need pristine thumbnails, it's essential. Another possibility is to put everything on a video but the video link in the overview is not really visible either. It's really a shame Upwork do not make the interface more friendly. We wouldn't be thinking that much if the did.


Frankly, I'm afraid to touch anything on my profile, and I'm not going to until Upwork addresses the problems with SPs. I agree that the income thing is the biggest issue. If Upwork plans on twisting my arm down the line, I'll deal with it then.

 

Anyway, what I've done all along is simply keep projects in separate folders (trade show, flyers, ads, etc.) on my hard drive, and attach relevant samples to my bids. I also tell clients they can request more samples, or look at my portfolio. I don't know for sure, but I think if you attach samples, it's easier for clients, and they don't or won't feel the need to view portfolios.


Sergio S wrote:

 

I read somewhere a workaround that consists on creating a specialized profile and deleting it afterwards, making the system transfer all items to the general profile. It sounds far-fetched. I never used it.

 


Yes, that's basically one of my questions; if I delete the specialized profile, will the portfolio items remain in my main profile, or will they be deleted too? Because that would seem to be a good workaround. Do you know anyone who has tried this?

 

And yes, I always add relevant work samples to my proposals anyway, but I think that having a bigger portfolio with a wider variety of items might improve my chances of getting invitations.

 


Sergio S wrote:

I am still using the old school format. Though I am starting to think maybe others with specialized profiles get more relevance in front of clients' eyes, I mean maybe they are displayed better. The use of specialized profiles also duplicates the keywords so it may be beneficial.

 

Where I don't see any benefit is on forcing people to create a specialized profile when they don't need it. I have seen freelancers having identical stuff in both specialized and general profiles just to comply with the 'rules.' I also think separation of earnings is not good. The whole thing cause confusion on clients.

 

I read somewhere a workaround that consists on creating a specialized profile and deleting it afterwards, making the system transfer all items to the general profile. It sounds far-fetched. I never used it.

 

And I have been thinking of using an external website instead since the blurry thumbnails seem to be something that will never be fixed and it really annoys me. Freelancers who work with images need pristine thumbnails, it's essential. Another possibility is to put everything on a video but the video link in the overview is not really visible either. It's really a shame Upwork do not make the interface more friendly. We wouldn't be thinking that much if the did.


Decidedly, adding new items to the portfolio is a despair 😞
Why don't they make it easier?

I have two specialized profiles, 2D Animation and Graphic Design.
The problem is that, basically I have the same information on both sides because they complement each other many times. But I have to repeat the same steps to add the project, in this case from Animation to Graphic Design.

 

Wouldn't it be easier?
- First, do not force to have specialized profiles (at least until certain things such as hours worked or earnings are corrected)
- To add a project, simply add it to the general profile and then select it if you want to show it in the specialized profiles (as I remember, it was like that at the beginning. Easy)
- Once added to a specialized profile, you can edit it there to add or delete information relevant to the profile.

 

I will continue adding projects on my external website to show them more easily.

Upwork, how do you manage to make things so difficult and absurd?


Virginia F wrote:

Frankly, I'm afraid to touch anything on my profile, and I'm not going to until Upwork addresses the problems with SPs.

 

Anyway, what I've done all along is simply keep projects in separate folders (trade show, flyers, ads, etc.) on my hard drive, and attach relevant samples to my bids.


Yes, I feel that way too and it seems they did not fix the problems yet. Though, I also feel uneasy thinking that I may be losing opportunities for not having the infamous specialized profile set.

 

And I have been sending samples attached, just like you. It's more "to the point" than making the client look at the portfolio. I still feel that the tool is being wasted. We wouldn't be looking for alternatives if the thing worked. Smiley Sad

 


Christine A wrote:


Yes, that's basically one of my questions; if I delete the specialized profile, will the portfolio items remain in my main profile, or will they be deleted too? Because that would seem to be a good workaround. Do you know anyone who has tried this?


Well, I have been reading past discussions yesterday about this matter, because I feel hesitant too. There was a thread where at least 2 people tried that workaround and the items remained in the general profile after deleting the specialized one. Sorry I don't have the link.


"Upwork, how do you manage to make things so difficult and absurd?"


Practice, practice, practice.

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